The Living Room Conspiracy Behind Mango TV’s “WeChat Payment”

As competition in the Internet TV industry continues to intensify, how to create more derivative value through user management has become a common goal for hardware manufacturers and content service providers. As an Internet TV content service provider, Mango TV Internet TV recently launched the "VIP WeChat Payment" service function, which not only pioneered cross-border integration in user management, but also brought to light the Internet TV business model transformation behind it.

VIP WeChat Payment: Marketing Innovation for Paid Videos

It is reported that the "VIP WeChat Payment" launched by Mango TV Internet TV provides convenience for those users who are inconvenient to pay and are willing to complete VIP payment through the circle of friends. Users can scan the payment QR code to bind WeChat, and then initiate "VIP WeChat Payment" in their circle of friends, and then use their social connections to find someone to pay for you, thereby opening the VIP service of Mango TV Internet TV. To put it simply, if you want to get the VIP service of Mango TV Internet TV, one way is to find someone to pay for you through your social connections in the circle of friends on WeChat.

At present, the domestic paid video industry environment is not very good, and users' habit of paying for content is not mature. Mango TV has set a precedent among Internet TV licensees by using social networks to carry out social paid video marketing. "Paid videos need to be viewed by channels, and the payment habits of different channels are different. The reason why we adopt the OTT payment model is that Mango TV has both confidence and confidence." Cheng Hongrong, general manager of Mango TV's Internet TV business unit, introduced Mango TV's "innate" advantages in paid videos in an interview with a reporter from China Home Appliance Network. Cheng Hongrong said that Mango TV's own content resources have unique advantages. These contents are not only movies and TV series, but also other VIP services, such as Hunan TV's exclusive variety shows and weekly Mango Live Show activities. These are exclusive content that other Internet TV competitors cannot provide. In addition, Mango TV's current value-added service payment rate on Hunan IPTV has reached 30%, which makes Mango TV Internet TV also full of confidence in the VIP payment model.

"Based on our inherent advantages, and considering that OTT and IPTV both provide a video experience based on television and have common usage scenarios, we are optimistic about the OTT payment model," said Cheng Hongrong.

It is reported that the "VIP WeChat Payment" launched by Mango TV Internet TV is the first time that the social management of social relationships has been put into practice in the field of paid video. This new Internet business model from traffic management to relationship management is an attempt by Mango TV to upgrade operations and marketing. Cheng Hongrong believes that social marketing based on social relationships has a stronger driving force for users than content-based selection marketing, and it is more interesting. Marketing methods that incorporate social interaction are more vivid and interesting than conventional marketing. Users complete the purchase, use and promotion of services in a very pleasant and relaxed environment and in the interaction with friends.

Li Chong, content director of the Internet TV division of Mango TV, also told the China Home Appliance Network reporter that "WeChat payment belongs to the scope of Mango TV's operating system. We attribute it to a function in the payment process. This function is to facilitate everyone's payment, which is the basic purpose. The further purpose is to increase the payment volume and overall payment rate of Mango TV's Internet TV VIP services through VIP WeChat payment." In addition, Li Chong also believes that the operation attempt using the WeChat platform itself also has communication considerations. As a communication value, WeChat is similar to Renren and Weibo a few years ago. The content communication value brought by these platforms at that time can also be reflected on WeChat today.

The core of social marketing: user management

Regarding the attempt of the "VIP WeChat payment" service, Hao Cheng, product planning director of Mango TV's Internet TV division, revealed the real intention behind it, which is the core content within the social marketing framework - "user management".

According to Hao Cheng, 3 or 4 months ago, Mango TV launched the WeChat code scanning login function on the TV user login interface, while other peers currently mostly log in by entering an email address or verifying a mobile phone code, which is both time-consuming and laborious for users to implement on the TV side. "WeChat login and payment on behalf of others enable us to achieve seamless connection with users, which is obviously more convenient than mobile phone verification codes and emails. Not only can we collect user behavior without obstacles, but we can also notify users of targeted messages through WeChat. In addition, we have also added many interactive functions to WeChat, such as selecting movies through WeChat, which can increase the stickiness of users on our platform. Ultimately, we want to manage these users, including attracting more target users through them." Hao Cheng said.

Regarding the relationship between "VIP WeChat payment" and users, Cheng Hongrong also said that the biggest benefit is to activate new users and improve user stickiness. "When users activate VIP services by initiating WeChat payment, it is equivalent to promoting Mango TV to their circle of friends. At the same time, if you have obtained VIP privileges of Mango TV for a period of time, and our service is good, you will definitely continue to choose Mango TV. Increasing the number of users will also increase stickiness."

"VIP service itself is a big topic. It includes not only video content, but also discounts on special products and rights to special events. We put all of these in Mango TV's VIP to increase the value of VIP services." Cheng Hongrong gave an example of some practices to improve VIP services: "We will integrate resources within Mango Media. For example, in the future, when a user shops on Happy Shopping, if the system shows that he is a VIP user of Mango TV, he may directly get a discount, which is the added value of our VIP. This is just one point. We can also plan different types of cooperation with different partners, combine the promotion of the partners' products with our services, and ultimately give back to our VIP users."

Currently, many portals have begun to pay attention to user management, such as setting up a small advertisement to remind users to log in, so as to collect more user records and data, so as to analyze user usage habits more accurately. Hao Cheng finally said, "Mango TV and they (portals, video websites, etc.) have also seen the part of user management. For example, the WeChat payment we planned is based on this need. This is in line with our positioning of paid business as a profit model, which means that we have to spend a lot of effort to manage users.

Behind Marketing Innovation: Changes in Business Models

The business model of Internet TV has always been the focus of the industry. Lu Renbo, an appliance observer, said that after Internet companies entered the color TV market and launched a series of combined punches such as the "software ecosystem" subversion theory and "price war", traditional color TV companies have also "lost the essence and pursued the trivial" and their business models have also shifted from focusing on hardware technology manufacturing to soft services such as applications and user experience. The entire color TV market has also shifted significantly to soft power competition.

Industry experts said that the launch of the "VIP WeChat payment" service function by Mango TV Internet TV is an innovation in marketing methods on the surface, but it actually reveals the quiet change in Mango TV Internet TV's business model.

Liang Zhenpeng, an appliance analyst, believes that through social marketing based on social relationships, Mango TV has changed its operations and marketing from passively looking for users to a model of social interaction, allowing users to actively accept various services of Mango TV and purchase, use and promote Mango TV's products and services in a very pleasant and relaxed environment. This innovative marketing model not only connects with users, but also highlights the business model change behind it.

It is understood that in the traditional competition in the Internet TV industry, various Internet TV manufacturers and content service providers are mostly trapped in a low-level competition model of selling products and content resources. The competition for these hardware products and content resources is not only easy to copy, but also often falls into the quagmire of price wars due to homogeneous competition. This vicious competition not only reduces the profit margins of various businesses, but also deals a fatal blow to the entire Internet TV industry.

Liang Zhenpeng said that the introduction of a series of measures to improve user experience, such as WeChat login and "VIP WeChat payment" services, indicates that Mango TV is unwilling to follow the "price war" and, on the basis of continuously optimizing content resources, places more and more importance on innovative services and user management. Through interactive and pleasant marketing models, novel and thoughtful service measures and exclusive content resource advantages, Mango TV has explored and formed its own core competitiveness and created a new "service-first" business model. Under the new business model, Mango TV is committed to moving from providing simple products and content to providing an overall solution combining software, hardware and services, increasing the number of users while continuously improving user stickiness, so as to take a step ahead and seize an advantageous position in the future competition in the Internet TV industry.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.